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In this article
In our guide to the best laptops for students, we explain what you need to know if you're buying a laptop for university, college or school. Plus, we recommend the best student laptops depending on your course and what you need your laptop to do.
We've also got expert advice on how to make your money go further and get the best student laptop for your budget. And we tell you where to look for student laptop and software deals, and the laptops to avoid as they're a waste of money.
See our top picks of the best laptops for all budgets and needs
Here we feature the best student laptops, covering Apple, Windows and Chromebooks, that we think will suit most students. We feature models at various prices, so you can pick the right model for your budget.
Many courses predominantly involve using word processing software for writing essays, presentation software and maybe spreadsheets, as well as email and web browsing. This means you won't need a really powerful laptop: an all-rounder, rather than an ultra high spec laptop, will do the job.
If your course will require more specialised, resource-hungry software, such as for media courses or design and engineering, keep scrolling to see our recommendations for more powerful laptops.
Logged-in Which? members will see our pick of the best student laptops for various prices, so you can get the right model for your budget.
Not yet a Which? member? You can join Which? to get instant access to our expert recommendations, plus all of our online reviews - including laptops, antivirus software and phones.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Be careful when choosing a laptop under £500. Many might seem fine at first, but once you start opening multiple browser tabs and programs, some models will become painfully slow and distract you from your studies.
Below we've selected models that focus on what matters. They're not the fastest, and some (especially the Chromebooks) will have less storage space. The build quality might be a bit plasticky, too. That said, they'll work for you if you mainly use Office-style programs, send emails and do light web browsing. These aren't suitable for more demanding tasks, such as photo editing or opening lots of apps or browser tabs at the same time.
If you're looking at models below £300, we'd strongly advise considering a Chromebook, as you'll get a better performance for the limited hardware you get at this price. Check the apps you need are supported by ChromeOS. You don't want to get caught out if there's software you need for your course that isn't compatible.
Apple MacBooks aren't available at this price point – check out our guide to refurbished laptops to find out how you can cut costs.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Small laptops weighing under 1.5kg are known as ultrabooks – choose one with a good battery life and you'll have a truly portable device that you can easily take out and about.
Below we've gone a step further, selecting laptops weighing under 1.3kg (equivalent to around eight medium-sized apples). So you won't feel the strain if you're carrying it with you all day.
Powerful light laptops can be expensive, though. So if an ultrabook isn't necessary for you, look elsewhere and save money.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
If your work will predominantly be making notes and writing essays, you won’t need a powerful laptop. In fact, you can get away with spending less.
That said, research can involve having lots of different documents or browser tabs open at the same time, so you may wish to go for something more than a budget laptop to avoid any slowdown.
If that's the case, consider 16GB Ram rather than 8GB. Some models that come with 8GB as standard can be bought with 16GB, and most brands do not charge much more for this (Apple does, but the 2025 MacBook Air fortunately now comes with 16GB as standard).
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
If your course involves editing multimedia or 3D work – such as media production, audio production, architecture, engineering software or fashion design – you’ll benefit from picking a pricier laptop.
These have higher-end specs that step up to the plate whenever you need them to, whether that's editing in Photoshop or using modelling software. The other benefit of these laptops is that you can use them for gaming (particularly if it has a dedicated graphics card) – perfect for a bit of downtime.
A dedicated graphics card can help 3D modelling and gaming run as smoothly as possible. Our reviews will say if a laptop has one, and some of the models mentioned below may be available in a higher specification that includes a dedicated graphics card.
Intel Core 5 (or i5) or AMD Ryzen 5 processors are the bare minimum if you want a smooth experience editing multimedia projects – consider an Intel Core 7/i7, AMD Ryzen 7 or Snapdragon X.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Got your heart set on a MacBook? Find out which one is the best MacBook for your needs and budget, plus which retailers have the best prices
Not all laptops are created equal. Here are some models that don't score well in our tests and aren’t worth your money.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Digital first month £5, then £8.99 per month, cancel at any time.
Consider exactly how you will use your laptop, and focus on what's most important for your needs. That way, you can save money by knowing where to compromise.
For many, the operating system you want will simply be the one you're used to. But here are some pros and cons to keep in mind.
Tech tips you can trust – get our free Tech newsletter for advice, news, deals and stuff the manuals don't tell you
Generally speaking, these are the prices you can expect to pay when buying a new laptop. This should help you to avoid spending more than you need to, or, indeed, underpaying for a laptop that won't meet your needs. The last thing you need when you're trying to study is a student laptop that's too slow and impacts your productivity.
Read our tips below to get the best deal on your new laptop, or check our pick of laptop deals from major retailers.
If you’re looking for a higher-end laptop — perhaps you’re doing a course that requires video or photo editing, for example — Apple and Microsoft both offer discounts to students.
Many other laptop brands also offer discounts if you buy direct from their online stores — check before you buy. For example:
While you can get some great discounts directly from most laptop brands, other online retailers might have better prices on products, and might be doing their own limited-time student (or non-student) deals.
Alternatively, you can save money and get a good model if you're willing to consider buying a second-hand or refurbished laptop. Many laptops only stay on the market for a year, but models we score highly and are only a year or two old are often still very good choices.
Backpack gone missing with your coursework inside? Know what to do if your laptop gets stolen
Which? laptop tests go further than those carried out by other organisations. Our dedicated lab technicians assess more than 100 laptops a year, meaning they know better than anyone else how to sort the diamonds from the duds — and not leaving any stone unturned.
Plus, Which? is independent and doesn't accept advertising or freebies, so you can trust our reviews for the full, honest and impartial truth about a product. We won't shy away from criticising an awful product, as we don't rely on brands sending us samples to test (we buy all the laptops we test, unlike other sites).
When testing laptops in the Which? test lab, we monitor, measure and test against more than 260 different criteria to ensure we have every base covered. This includes everything from battery life and screen brightness to button dimensions and USB data transfer rate. You might not have thought of it, but our lab will make sure everything's in order for you.
Whether you're a student who has to submit essays, video-editing projects or graphic design assignments, we've comprehensively tested the laptop to suit you. See our expert laptop reviews.